2022 California wildfires | |
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![]() The smoke plume from the Oak Fire in California as seen by NASA's Aqua satellite on July 23, 2022 | |
Date(s) | January 21 – October 23 |
Statistics [1] | |
Total fires | 7,667 |
Total area | 363,939 acres (147,281 ha) |
Impacts | |
Deaths | 9 |
Structures destroyed |
|
Map | |
![]() A map of every wildfire ≥1,000 acres in area in California in 2022 | |
Season | |
← 2021 2023 → |
The 2022 California wildfire season was a series of wildfires throughout the U.S. state of California. By the end of the year, a total of 7,667 fires had been recorded, totaling approximately 363,939 acres (147,281 hectares) across the state. Wildfires killed nine people in California in 2022, destroyed 772 structures, and damaged another 104. The 2022 season followed the 2020 and 2021 California wildfire seasons, which had the highest and second-highest (respectively) numbers of acres burned in the historical record, with a sharp drop in acreage burned.
Drastic climatic and ecological conditions, including climate change and long-term drought, had led to the anticipation of another potentially above-average wildfire season on the heels of two previous such seasons in 2020 and 2021. [2] However, while the number of fires to date in 2022 was only slightly below the 5-year average (7,641 fires versus 8,049 fires), the total acreage burned was well below the 5-year average; 363,939 acres burned in 2022 thus far versus the 5-year average of 2,324,096 acres (though that average includes several of California's most significant fire seasons). [3]
Peak fire season in California typically occurs in late summer and/or fall, and effectively ends when significant precipitation occurs across the state. [4] Governor of California Gavin Newsom officially marked "the end of peak wildfire season” in most of the state in mid-November. [5] The quieter fire year was received gratefully by state officials and was highlighted by multiple news outlets, which attributed the downturn in severity largely to fortunate weather patterns, such as well-timed precipitation and favorable wind conditions. [6] [5] Officials were also quick to suggest that a contributing factor might have been several billion dollars invested in wildfire resilience projects, such as prescribed burning and community outreach. [5]
Despite the 'quiet' year as measured in acreage, a number of significant wildfires burned in California in 2022; these include the Oak Fire in Mariposa County, which burned over 180 structures, the McKinney Fire in Siskiyou County, which caused 4 fatalities, and the Mosquito Fire in Placer and El Dorado counties, which was California's largest wildfire of the year.
After a wet October and December in the beginning of the 2022 water year, California experienced the driest January–February period on record in the state, with similar conditions continuing in March. [7] [8] [9] This dry stretch follows a period of severe drought in the state that began in 2020, in part due to climate change in California, [10] and which contributed to severe wildfire seasons in both 2020 and 2021.
In its April monthly seasonal outlook, the National Interagency Fire Center forecast above normal significant fire potential for the Bay Area, Mid Coast-Mendocino, and Sacramento Valley/Foothill areas beginning in May, due to the lack of seasonal precipitation, early start to the growing season, and long-term drought. [11] It also noted that "A further expansion of above normal significant fire potential is forecast across most elevations during June and July." The Northern California Geographic Coordination Center (commonly called 'North Ops') forecast stated that "Confidence is moderate to high for an early start to the significant large fire season." [12]
In Northern California, peak fire season begins in the early summer (June–July) and runs until late fall, varying year to year. In Southern California, the peak fire season begins in late spring (May–June) and runs until fall. [4] The precise timing varies according to annual and seasonal precipitation, as well as the occurrence of offshore wind events, such as the Santa Anas, Diablo winds, or sundowner winds. [4] However, fires are possible at any time of year in the state, particularly in drier Southern California.
In anticipation of the 2022 California wildfire season, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) increased its planned wildfire mitigation plan spending for 2022 to $5.96 billion, from $4.8 billion in 2021 and $4.46 billion in 2020. [13] The mitigation plan includes the 'undergrounding' of at least 175 miles of power lines in high-fire risk areas, the installation of 98 additional wildfire detection/monitoring cameras and 100 additional weather stations, the expansion of safety settings that cut off power when objects (such as trees or branches) contact power lines, and the continued implementation of public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) as a last resort during extreme fire weather conditions. [14] [15] These moves came after the company declared bankruptcy in 2019 over its liability for wildfire damage costs from the 2018 Camp Fire and 2017 Tubbs Fire, among others. PG&E pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in the Camp Fire, shortly before the company exited bankruptcy in June 2020. In January 2022, Cal Fire determined that the Dixie Fire, the largest fire of the 2021 California wildfire season and largest non-complex fire in recorded California history, was caused by a tree contacting PG&E electrical distribution lines.
The lead-in to the 2022 Western United States fire season was also marked by concerns about firefighting staffing. On March 15, 2022, Politico reported that United States Forest Service (USFS) officials had warned California employees that there had been "50 percent fewer applications submitted for GS3 through GS9 firefighting positions" compared to 2021, in part because of low pay, housing issues, and high cost of living. [16] The San Francisco Chronicle similarly reported that between 2019 and 2021, the number of U.S. Forest Service firefighters stationed in California dropped by more than 20%, or over 1,000 firefighters. [17] Testifying for the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 4, USFS Chief Randy Moore noted that in some areas, the USFS had only reached 50% of the staffing goal for wildland firefighters so far. Chief Moore cited competition in the labor market, including with private, county, and state organizations, such as Cal Fire, as a major reason for the hiring challenges. [18] During the peak of fire season, representatives of California's private timber industry called for firefighting reserves to be augmented by the U.S. military and the National Guard, but were resisted by federal and state officials who noted the cost of such efforts and the lack of extreme resource needs during the season so far. The state has been forced to seek military assistance in the past during severe fire seasons. [19]
Anthropogenic climate change is partially responsible for driving increased wildfire severity in California. [20] [21] For instance, background warming has led to weather and vegetation conditions more favorable for wildfire activity even at night, which has typically been a period of reduced activity that allows crews to intensify efforts to suppress fires. [22]
The state of California is experiencing drought conditions on a number of timescales. The state saw very little precipitation in the January to March time period, with much of the state experiencing its driest such period. As of March 22, 2022, the National Drought Mitigation Center's U.S. Drought Monitor saw the entire state in moderate to extreme drought conditions. [23] In February, their Drought Severity and Coverage (DSCI) index, which measures cumulative dryness, was at 275, or nearly twice the 20-year average of approximately 146, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. [24] This dry period is part of an ongoing 22-year spell of drought in the North American West that marks the driest such period in at least 1,200 years, according to scientific research based on analysis of soil moisture deficits and tree rings. [25] [26]
The drought has impacted wildfire risk and severity in a number of ways. Increased dryness of fuels, driven by increased vapor pressure deficit (VPD), a measure of the aridity of the atmosphere, is behind an eightfold increase in the area burned by wildfires in the summer in California since 1972, according to scientific research. [27] Drought and overcrowding have also made forests more vulnerable not just to wildfires but bark beetle infestation, which has further weakened and killed forests. Total tree mortality since 2010 exceeds 172 million, providing plentiful fuel for wildfires. [28]
Scientists believe that prior to European colonization, far more area—between 4.4 and 11.8 million acres—was burned on an annual basis in California than in modern history, as a combination of wildfires and indigenous controlled burning. [29] Beginning with the advent of the U.S. Forest Service's '10 AM policy', in which it sought to extinguish all fires by 10 AM the morning after their report, the primary method of wildfire management in California has been suppression. [30] The success of this approach has led to a surfeit of fuel, resulting in larger and more extreme fires.
California, as with other areas of the United States and the world, has experienced a growing amount of human development into the wildland-urban interface, or WUI. This area consists of developed areas either adjacent to, or intermingled with, wildland vegetation and fuels. Such areas are more prone to wildfire ignitions and structure losses, increasing the risk and severity of fire seasons in California. [31] The 2018 Camp Fire and 2017 Tubbs Fire are two examples of recent California wildfires that resulted devastating losses in WUI communities.
The following is a list of fires that burned more than 1,000 acres (400 ha), produced significant structural damage or casualties, or were otherwise notable. Acreage and containment figures may not be up to date.
Name | County | Acres | Start date | Containment date | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Airport Fire | Inyo | 4,136 | February 16, 2022 | February 26, 2022 | Unknown cause | [32] |
Coastal Fire | Orange | 200 | May 11, 2022 | May 17, 2022 | Unknown cause; burned into a neighborhood and destroyed 20 homes | [33] [34] |
Lost Lake Fire | Riverside | 5,856 | May 26, 2022 | June 8, 2022 | Unknown cause | [35] |
Thunder Fire | Kern | 2,500 | June 22, 2022 | June 27, 2022 | Likely caused by lightning strike | [36] [37] |
Roblar Fire | Sonoma | 63 | June 27, 2022 | June 27, 2022 | Unknown cause; 1 fatality from person trapped in a vehicle | [38] |
Electra Fire | Amador, Calaveras | 4,478 | July 4, 2022 | July 28, 2022 | Unknown cause, possibly fireworks from Fourth of July celebrations [39] | [40] |
Washburn Fire | Mariposa, Madera | 4,886 | July 7, 2022 | July 30, 2022 | Human caused, forced evacuations in Wawona and trail closures in Yosemite National Park; threatened Mariposa Grove | [41] [42] |
Oak Fire | Mariposa | 19,244 | July 22, 2022 | September 2, 2022 | Unknown cause, forced evacuations in Mariposa County. Destroyed 182 structures and damaged 10 structures | [43] |
McKinney Fire | Siskiyou | 60,138 | July 29, 2022 | September 7, 2022 | Possibly caused by power lines; destroyed 185 structures and caused 4 fatalities | [44] [45] [46] |
Yeti Fire | Siskiyou | 7,886 | July 29, 2022 | September 1, 2022 | Probable lightning caused, forced evacuations in Siskiyou County, originally named the China 2 fire | [47] |
Summit Fire | Tulare | 1,394 | August 3, 2022 | October 31, 2022 | Caused by lightning, was suppressed using indirect methods, burning in southern Sequoia National Park | [48] |
Red Fire | Mariposa, Madera | 8,364 | August 4, 2022 | September 28, 2022 | Lightning caused, burned in Yosemite National Park, not fully suppressed due to natural barriers | [49] |
Six Rivers Lightning Complex | Humboldt, Trinity | 41,596 | August 5, 2022 | November 3, 2022 | Caused mandatory evacuations in Trinity and Humboldt counties, composed of multiple lightning fires that eventually merged into the Campbell Fire and Ammon Fire | [50] [51] |
Rodgers Fire | Tuolumne | 2,790 | August 8, 2022 | September 26, 2022 | Lightning caused, burned in Yosemite National Park, not fully suppressed due to natural barriers | [52] |
Route Fire | Los Angeles | 5,208 | August 31, 2022 | September 7, 2022 | Burned near Interstate 5 and Castaic Lake, 1 structure destroyed and 7 firefighters injured | [53] [54] |
Border 32 Fire | San Diego | 4,456 | August 31, 2022 | September 5, 2022 | Burned near U.S./Mexico border, 10 structures destroyed | [55] |
Mill Fire | Siskiyou | 3,935 | September 2, 2022 | September 13, 2022 | Burned in/near communities of Weed and Lake Shastina, destroyed 118 structures, caused 2 fatalities | [56] |
Mountain Fire | Siskiyou | 13,440 | September 2, 2022 | September 21, 2022 | Burned 7 miles SW of Gazelle, 4 structures destroyed | [57] |
Radford Fire | San Bernardino | 1,079 | September 2, 2022 | September 30, 2022 | Burned near Big Bear Lake, has caused evacuations in the region | [58] |
Fairview Fire | Riverside | 28,307 | September 5, 2022 | October 5, 2022 | Burned near Hemet, caused 2 fatalities and destroyed 36 structures | [59] |
Mosquito Fire | Placer, El Dorado | 76,788 | September 6, 2022 | October 23, 2022 | Burned near Foresthill and caused evacuations in Placer and El Dorado County; destroyed 78 structures | [60] [61] [62] |
Barnes Fire | Modoc | 5,843 | September 7, 2022 | October 13, 2022 | Caused by lightning, burned near Fort Bidwell in the Warner Mountains | [63] |
Fork Fire | Madera | 819 | September 7, 2022 | September 13, 2022 | Caused by a vehicle, destroyed 43 structures near North Fork | [64] |
The Zaca Fire was a wildfire in the San Rafael Mountains, northeast of the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County, California. It was the single largest wildfire of the 2007 California wildfire season. The fire started on July 4, 2007, and by August 31, it had burned over 240,207 acres (972.083 km2), making it California's second largest fire in recorded history at that time after the Cedar Fire of 2003. As of 2023, it is California's 12th-largest recorded fire in modern history. The fire was contained on September 4, 2007, with the fire being brought under control on October 29, 2007.
The 2009 California wildfires were a series of 9,159 wildfires that were active in the US state of California, during the year 2009. The fires burned more than 422,147 acres of land from early February through late November, due to Red Flag conditions, destroying hundreds of structures, injuring 134 people, and killing four. The wildfires also caused at least US$134.48 million in damage. Although the fires burned many different regions of California in August, the month was especially notable for several very large fires which burned in Southern California, despite being outside of the normal fire season for that region.
The 2015 California wildfire season was a series of wildfires that burned across the state of California. By the end of 2015 a total of 8,745 fires were recorded, burning 893,362 acres (3,615 km2) across the state. Approximately 3,159 structures were damaged or destroyed by wildfires, and at least 7 fatalities were recorded.
The Rough Fire was a major wildfire in Fresno County, California, and the largest of the 2015 California wildfire season. The fire was ignited by a lightning strike on July 31 and burned 151,623 acres (61,360 ha), largely in the Sierra National Forest and the Sequoia National Forest, before it was declared contained on November 6, 2015. At the time it occurred, the fire was the thirteenth largest in recorded California history.
In 2016, a total of 7,349 fires had burned an area 669,534 acres (2,709.51 km2) in California, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
In terms of property damage, 2017 was the most destructive wildfire season on record in California at the time, surpassed by only the 2018 season and the 2020 season, with a total of 9,560 fires burning 1,548,429 acres (6,266.27 km2) of land, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, including five of the 20 most destructive wildland-urban interface fires in the state's history. Throughout 2017, the fires destroyed or damaged more than 10,000 structures in the state, a higher tally than the previous nine years combined. State data showed that the large wildfires killed 47 people – 45 civilians and 2 firefighters – almost higher than the previous 10 years combined. The total property damage and total amount of burned land were both surpassed by the 2018 California wildfires.
The Mendocino Complex Fire was a large complex of wildfires that burned in northern California for more than three months in 2018. It consisted of two wildfires, the River Fire and Ranch Fire, which burned in Mendocino, Lake, Colusa, and Glenn Counties in the U.S. State of California, with the Ranch Fire being California's single-largest recorded wildfire at the time until the Dixie Fire in 2021. The Ranch Fire burned eight miles northeast of Ukiah, and the River Fire burned six miles north of Hopland, to the south of the larger Ranch Fire. First reported on July 27, 2018, both fires burned a combined total of 459,123 acres (1,858 km2), before they were collectively 100% contained on September 18, though hotspots persisted until the complex was fully brought under control on January 4, 2019. The Ranch Fire alone burned 410,203 acres (1,660 km2), making it the largest wildfire in modern California history at the time until the August Complex fire that occurred in 2020. The Ranch Fire also surpassed the size of the 315,577-acre Rush Fire, which burned across California and Nevada, as well as the Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889, which was previously believed to have been California's all-time largest wildfire.
The 2019 California wildfire season was a series of wildfires that burned across the U.S. state of California as part of the 2019 wildfire season. By the end of the year, according to Cal Fire and the US Forest Service, 7,860 fires were recorded, totaling an estimated of 259,823 acres of burned land. These fires caused 22 injuries, 3 fatalities, and damaged or destroyed 732 structures. The 2019 California fire season was less active than that of the two previous years, which set records for acreage, destructiveness, and deaths.
The 2020 California wildfire season, part of the 2020 Western United States wildfire season, was a record-setting year for wildfires in California. Over the course of the year, 8,648 fires burned 4,304,379 acres (1,741,920 ha), more than four percent of the state's roughly 100 million acres of land, making 2020 the largest wildfire season recorded in California's modern history. though roughly equivalent to the pre-1800 levels which averaged around 4.4 million acres yearly and up to 12 million in peak years. California's August Complex fire has been described as the first "gigafire", burning over 1 million acres across seven counties, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. The fires destroyed over 10,000 structures and cost over $12.079 billion in damages, including over $10 billion in property damage and $2.079 billion in fire suppression costs. The intensity of the fire season has been attributed to a combination of more than a century of poor forest management and higher temperatures resulting from climate change.
The Western United States experienced a series of major wildfires in 2020. Severe August thunderstorms ignited numerous wildfires across California, Oregon, and Washington, followed in early September by additional ignitions across the West Coast. Fanned by strong, gusty winds and fueled by hot, dry terrains, many of the fires exploded and coalesced into record-breaking megafires, burning more than 10.2 million acres of land, mobilizing tens of thousands of firefighters, razing over ten thousand buildings, and killing at least 37 people. The fires caused over $19.884 billion in damages, including $16.5 billion in property damage and $3.384 billion in fire suppression costs. Climate change and poor forest management practices contributed to the severity of the wildfires.
The 2021 California wildfire season was a series of wildfires that burned across the U.S. state of California. By the end of 2021 a total of 8,835 fires were recorded, burning 2,568,948 acres (1,039,616 ha) across the state. Approximately 3,629 structures were damaged or destroyed by the wildfires, and at least seven firefighters and two civilians were injured.
The 2021 Oregon wildfire season began in May 2021. More than 1,000 fires had burned at least 518,303 acres (209,750 ha) across the state as of July 21, 2021. As of August 1, it was expected that the fires might not be contained for months.
The 2021 Arizona wildfire season was a series of wildfires that burned across the state of Arizona, United States. Wildfires across the state burned 524,428 acres (212,228 ha) of land in at least 1,773 fires throughout the state, fueled in part by a drought, hot temperatures, and thunderstorms producing dry lightning. At one point in late June, over 20 active wildfires were burning across the state.
The 2021 New Mexico wildfire season began in February 7, 2021. As of July 7, there have been at least 363 fires across the state that have burned at least 121,277 acres (49,079 ha).
The 2021 Colorado wildfire season was a series of wildfires that burned throughout the U.S. state of Colorado. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, as of July 1, 2021, at least 32,860 acres (13,300 ha) of land had burned in at least 337 wildland fires across the state. Hundreds of homes were burned, and the cities of Louisville and Superior were evacuated, during the Boulder County fires in late December.
The Caldor Fire was a large wildfire that burned 221,835 acres in the Eldorado National Forest and other areas of the Sierra Nevada in El Dorado, Amador, and Alpine County, California, in the United States during the 2021 California wildfire season. The fire was first reported on Saturday, August 14, 2021, and was fully contained on Thursday, October 21, 2021. The Caldor Fire destroyed 1,005 structures and damaged 81 more, primarily in the US Highway 50 corridor and in the community of Grizzly Flats, 2/3 of which was destroyed by the fire.
The 2023 California wildfire season was a series of significant wildfires that burned in the U.S. state of California during the calendar year. According to statistics published by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, a total of 7,127 fires burned a total of 324,917 acres. This was below the state's five-year average of 1,722,059 acres (696,893 ha) burned during the same period. The 2023 fire season followed the 2022 season, during which the number of fires and the resulting burned acreage were both below average. Four fatalities were reported during the 2023 fire season.
The Rocky Fire was a large wildfire in Lake, Colusa, and Yolo counties in Northern California in 2015. The fire burned 69,438 acres between its ignition on July 29 and its full containment on August 14. Caused by a malfunctioning water heater being used for illegal cannabis cultivation, the fire destroyed 96 structures and was the fifth largest fire of the 2015 wildfire season in California, during which 8,283 wildfires burned a total of 880,899 acres (356,487 ha).